rssRumsfeld Crony Makes Fool of Self While Giving Gates Backhanded Compliments
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 at 4:31 pm
- 5 Comments
You know whose opinion you should really value when assessing the impending retention of Bob Gates at the Pentagon? Larry Di Rita, the last living Rumsfeld acolyte — seriously, put him in the Smithsonian or something — says that sure, sure, Gates does lots of nice things competently, but “success in Iraq is not without cost — less focus on everything else.” In other words, the trouble with Gates is that he didn’t continue the Rumsfeld agenda:
A partial list of the Bush/Rumsfeld program: the most extensive global military base closure and realignment since World War II; the complete realignment of the global U.S. force posture in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East; the expansion and modernization of U.S. special forces; the redesign of the United States Army; the most significant reduction in strategic forces in the nuclear era; the implementation and deployment of a basic system of defense against ballistic missiles; the creation of an entirely new civil-service system for the Department of Defense; the establishment of new military commands for the Homeland, and Africa; the list goes on.
If only Gates had stayed the course! God I love the myopia of the Rumsfeld faction. Yes, when people think of the Rumsfeld Pentagon, they think, “… that civil-service program really needed some fixing. Good thing there was a man in charge back then who knew how to focus on the big picture! Now, which way to the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans memorials?” It’s curious how people think they’re defending Rumsfeld by implicitly asking people to separate their views on a secretary of defense from the two wars he presided over. Or all the torture he ordered. Canceling the Crusader artillery system somehow doesn’t even things out.
Then there’s this:
The secretary of Defense, vested with the authority of the president himself, provides [energy in the executive]. Without it, there cannot be true change against the naturally centrifugal forces of status quo among defense contractors, members of Congress, and their constituents for whom defense spending is often looked at as a public works program. Rumsfeld muscled his way through these forces without fear or favor.
Yeah, it’s not like under Donald Rumsfeld the defense budget exploded and the Pentagon became a hotbed of contractor corruption or anything.
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5 Comments
Comment posted November 26, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
What's good about keeping Gates on? It's not like there aren't many others who could take his place and make a clean break with the Bush mess. It's a completely unnecessary sop to the Republicans. Gates at the CIA was wrong on the Soviets before and after Gorbachev. His analysis was politicized. Read Melvin Goodman's op-ed yesterday in the Baltimore Sun for a clear-eyed view of Gates, who gets a lot of good press just for not being Rumsfeld. Anybody was going to look good after Rumsfeld.
Comment posted November 27, 2008 @ 1:49 pm
Rumsfeld should be shot, then Paulson, after Cheney is waterboarded of course.
Wait a sec, let's review this nightmarrish admin:
First, they go to the WRONG damn war, then they crash the world economy, and have the unbelievable gal to ask for 700 BILLION for their poor banker cronies?? (Oh yeah, the 700 Billion deal had the standard no-accuntablity clause in it, of course: Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
On 2nd thought: Waterboarding is too nice for them. Add your fav torture method for these guy down below.
Comment posted November 27, 2008 @ 1:52 pm
This pandering to the rightwing … it's really bad of Obama. The Democratic base got NOTHING.
No fired up victory speech, no progressive candidates, nothing. What does this guy need? He got the house, the senate, the prez? Why is he still pussyfooting around repubs like Gates? To hell with the lot of em, I say.
Comment posted November 27, 2008 @ 9:49 pm
Rumsfeld should be shot, then Paulson, after Cheney is waterboarded of course.
Wait a sec, let's review this nightmarrish admin:
First, they go to the WRONG damn war, then they crash the world economy, and have the unbelievable gal to ask for 700 BILLION for their poor banker cronies?? (Oh yeah, the 700 Billion deal had the standard no-accuntablity clause in it, of course: Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
On 2nd thought: Waterboarding is too nice for them. Add your fav torture method for these guy down below.
Comment posted November 27, 2008 @ 9:52 pm
This pandering to the rightwing … it's really bad of Obama. The Democratic base got NOTHING.
No fired up victory speech, no progressive candidates, nothing. What does this guy need? He got the house, the senate, the prez? Why is he still pussyfooting around repubs like Gates? To hell with the lot of em, I say.
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